Feeding appliance for bread slicing machines



March 22, 1932. o. F. RCHWEDDER ,850,

FEEDING APPLIANCE FOR BREAD SLICING' MACHINES Filed Feb. 27, 1930 5Sheets-Sheet l q} a Q \{4 Q INVE R ATTORNEYS March 22, 1932. o. F.ROHWEDDER FEEDING APPLIANCE FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINES Filed Feb. 27,1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORN EYS Maych 22, 1932. o. F. ROHWEDD ERFEEDING APPLIANCE FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINES Filed Feb. 27, 193C 5Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENT W I W6 ATTORN EYS March 22, 1932. o. F. ROHWEDDER1,850,604

FEEDING APPLIANCE FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINES Filed Feb. 27, 1930 5Sheets-Sheet 4 mg; i J 2 ATTORN EYS March 22, 1932.

o. F. ROHWEDDER 1,850,604

FEEDING APPLIANCE FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINES Filed Feb. 27, 1930 sSheets-Sheet 5 I III 7 7 sup s f QBLY' L 1 If" g I .1 7 fohHY I l J| frr E-I::\r, 1) 1 u I 1L 1 INVEN arm ATTORNEYS Patented Mai. 22, 1932UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE O'I'TO F. ROHWEDIDER, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA,ASSIGNOR TO MAC-ROE SALES & MFG.

' COMPANY, OF BETTENDORF, IOWA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE FEEDINGAPPLIANCE FOR BREAD SLICING MACHINES Application filed February 27,1930. Serial No. 431,823.

This invention relates to bread slicing machines, particularly tofeeding mechanisms therefore, and is a continuation in part of mycopending application Serial No. 347,- 838, filed March 18,1929.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a breadslicing machine with new and improved means for feeding bread thereto. Y

Another object is to provide a bread slicing machine with simple andeflicient means for conveying the bread to and depositing it on thetable loading device in centered slic v ing position.

Another object is to provide a bread slic ing machine with an improvedintermittently operated conveyor mechanism for feeding bread to themachine.

lVith the above and other objects in view, the present invention may besaid to comprise the apparatus as illustrated in the ac companyingdrawings to be hereinafter described and particularly set forth in theappended claims, together with such variations and modifications thereofas will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which this inven tiona'ppertains.

In the accompanying drawings, which 'illustrate a suitable embodiment ofthe present invention,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the feeding apparatus applied tothebread cutting machine.

Fig. .2 is an enlarged longitudinal scction taken on the line 2 2 ofFig. 4.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig.2.

Fig. 4 is a full length plan view of the conveyor. I

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the conveyor and supporting frame, thedrive chain and return spring being partially broken away.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4 showingthe conveyor adjusting mechanism. 7

Fig. 7 is an enlarged .perspective'view of the conveyor drive bar. Fig.8 is an enlarged plan View showing the forward end of the conveyortogether,

with the feeding andslicing mechanism.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged section taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 10 is a partial plan view of a modified form of conveyor operatinmechanism.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation ofthe mechanism shown in Fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of goportion, of the mechanismshown in Fig Fig. 13 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing anadjustable mechanism for supporting the conveyor.

Fig. 14 is a view similar to Fig. 12 showing the conveyor in an adjustedposition.

The feeding mechanism of the present invention is particularly adaptedto the type of bread slicing machine shown and described in my copendingapplications Serial Nos. 249,612 and 290,503 filed January 26, 1928, andJuly 5, 1928, respectively. It is to be understood, however, that theinvention about to be described is equally adaptable to any other typeof slicing machine, such as, those embodying continuous cutting blades.

Forvclearness of illustration, the driving 5 mechanism is omitted andthe cutting blades are only partially shown.

Referring to. the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer tolike parts throughout the several views, the slicing machine generallycomprises a pair. of side frames 1 having a pair of pusher levers 2pivoted thereto which are provided with a connecting cross bar at theirupper ends, the up-- per ends thereof being formed with forwardlyprojecting extensions 3. As shown in Figs. 1 and 8, a pusher head 4. ispivoted to the forward ends of the extensions-3 and is adapted to bereciprocated forwardly and rearwardly over a feed table 5 which ispivoted to the side frames 1.

The bread to be sliced is deposited onto the feed table 5 by themechanism described in my copending application Serial No.

347,838, and is moved forwardly on the table i 5 by the pusher head 4 tothe reciprocating cutting blades 6 which completely slice the loaf. Ashown in Fig. 8, the pusher head 4 is preferably formed with a pluralityof spaced notches or slots so that the projections 109 I between theslots can extend beyond the blades I 6- to force the sliced breadthrough the. same onto. a suitable delivery table or apron, or onto aconveyor employed in a wrapping machine.

The mechanism for reciprocating the pusher levers 2 is clearly describedin the previously mentioned copending applications.

The feeding device comprises a conveyor mechanism which carries thebread to a point approximately over the feed table of the slicingmachine where the bread is discharged onto an elevator or loweringdevice which deposits the bread in the correct slicing position on thetable 5 in frontof the pusher head 4, so that it can be correctly fed tothe reciprocating blades 6. The conveyor, lowering device and pusherhead thus are synchronized to coact and progressively feed loaves ofbread to the slicing blades. 1

Referring to Figs. 1 to 9, inclusive, the conveyor mechanism comprises apair of spaced longitudinal side bars 7 secured at their forward ends tothe side frames 1 by suitable brackets 8, the brackets being attached tothe side frames 1 by suitable bolts 9. The side bars 7 are preferablyheld in spaced relationship by U-shaped connectors 10 which'have theirends secured to the side bars 7 by suitmembers 19 secured to able bolts11. These connectors 10 have a number of flat supporting bars 12 securedthereto which support the upper side of the conveyor belt 13 and preventthe same from sagging.

The conveyor belt 13 which isof any suitable material, preferablyoperates over a pair of suitable rollers 14 and 15. The forward roller14 is journaled in suitable brackets 16 secured to the foremosttransversely extendng connector 10 and the, rearward roller ispreferably rotatably mounted on a transversely extending shaft' 17. Theends of the shaft 17 as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, are preferably ournaledin slidable brackets 18. These brackets 18 are supported by U-shaped therearward ends of. the conveyor side rails or bars 7 and which areprovided with L-shaped members 20 havin suitable screws 21 threadedtherethrough.

wardiy he screws 21 when tightened bear against the brackets 18 andforce the shaft 17 rearto correctly tension the conveyor belt 13. t isobvious that by *turnin the screws 21, the'slackin the conveyor be t 13can be taken up or compensated for by moving the roller 15 forwardly orrearwardly.

The conveyor belt 13 is provided with a plurality of regularly spacedtransversely ex- -.tending cleats 22 which positively engage no theloaves of bread and prevent them from sliding on thebelt, so that theycan be discharged at regular intervals onto the table loadlng device,later to be described.

The belt 13 is so operated thatupon each reciprocation of the pusherhead 4 a loaf of bread is deposited upon the table loading device.- Thisis accomplished by means of a a ratchet arrangement which comprises alongitudinally movable pawl 23 that intermittently engages the cleats 22of the conveyor belt 13.

.A pair of U-shaped supports 24 are suitably secured to a pair ofadjacent connecting members 10 near the central portion of the conveyor,and carry a air/of spaced longitudinally positioned gulde bars 25 and51. The pawl 23, which is triangularly .shaped and extends rearwardlyand upwardly, is secured to a suitable drive bar 26. The drive bar 26 ispositioned between the guide bars 25 and seats upon the supports 21which longitudinally guide the same. The guide bars 25 provide suitablemeans for holding the drive bar 26 against lateral displacement. Atransversely extending cross member 27 is secured to the lower face ofthe drive bar 26 rearwardly of the pawl 23 to serve as a suitable stopwhich limits the rearward travel of the drive bar 26 by engaging therear support 24, and which also limitsthe forward travel of the bar26-by engaging the front support 24. The cross member 27 also seatswhlch extend beyondthe sides thereof and ride on the guide bars 25 tosubstantially prevent bending of the drive bar 26 intermediate its'ends.

The forward ends of the guide bars 25 are preferably bent or inclineddownwardly to guide and prevent the cleats 22 from catching the bars 25in case slack occurs in the con- ;ve or belt 13.

- The rear ends ofthe. ide bars 25 are bent downwardly and twistedsubstantially 90,degrees to provide spaced su ports 29 for a shorttransversely extending s aft 30. The shaft 30 is rotatable and has a,suitable pulley 31 secured thereto whichsu ports a belt or actuatingchain 32;; Onev end is secured to a hookportion 33 mounted on the.pusher lever cross bar, and the other end thereof is secured to a hookportion 34 which is mounted on the stop bar 27 by means of a suitablebolt 35 or other suitable securing means: It is a parent that theforward motion of the pusl ier levers 2 pulls on the chain 32 to movethe drive bar 26 rearwzirdly. The pawl 23 consequently engages thecleats 22 of the chain 32 of the 'conveyor belt 13 to longitudinally ofsuitable springs 37 having one end attached to the bolt and the otherend attached to brackets 38 whichare secured to the frame members 1.

In the operation of the conveyor, forward movement of the pusher movesthe drive bar 26 rearwardly and the pawl 23, being in engagement withone of ,the cleats 22, consequently moves the belt 13 a distance equalto the length of travel of the drive bar 26 to 1 discharge a loaf ofbread onto the table loading mechanism. Upon rearward movement of thepusher, the springs 37 draw the drive bar 26 forwardly so that the pawl23' slides underneath the next adjacent cleat 22 and engages the same inposition to again actuate the conveyor belt 13. It is thusseen that theconveyor belt 13 is intermittently actuated by the pusher.

The loaves of bread carried by the conveyor belt are guided and centeredby means of spaced, guide members 40, the rear ends of which arepreferably secured to the conveyor side bars 7 by bolts 41, and theintermediate portions of which are secured to the side bars 7 by bolts42. ,The bolts 42 are preferably provided with spacers 43 which spacethe guide members the desired distance from the side bars 7 and fromeach other.

The guide members 40 are preferably made of resilient material and theforward ends are curved inwardly and attached to adjustable supports 44comprising horizontal and vertical portions. The horizontal portionsofeach support 44 are each formed with a slot 45 and are bolted to astationary bracket 46 by bolts 47, the bracket 46 being secured to theouter face of the side frame 7. As shown in Figs. 1 and 5, thehorizontal portion of the adjustable support 44 extends'through a slot48 formed in the side frame 7. The forward ends of the guide members40can thus be adjusted and correctly spaced, so that the bread beingcarried by the conveyor will be automatically centered thereon anddischarged in the correct position onto the table loading device. Theguide members 40 can also be adjusted to accommodate different lengthsof bread.

In addition to serving as centering means for the bread, the guidemembers 40 also provide means for causing the bread'to be dischargedeither on its bottom or on its side onto the elevator device. Byadjusting the guide members 40 so that they merely contact with thebread as it moves between the same, a

the bread will be so discharged that its bottom engages the elevatordevices. Furthermore, by adjusting the guide members 40 so that theyhave considerable friction with the ends of the bread, the breadwilltilt and fall on its side onto the table loading devices. This, however,will later be described in connection with Figs. 13 and 14.

It is apparent that the conveyor is positioned somewhat above the feedtable 5 of the slicing machine and that means must be provided fortransferring the bread tovthe table in the desired position. This isaccomplished in the present invention by'means of elevator orloweringdevices, which are slidably mounted upon a pair of spaced vertical bars49 secured to each frame member 1 by upper and lower retainer blocks 50.I 7

Although the table loading devices are clearly described in theapplication Serial No. 347,838, they will, however, for the sake ofclearness and illustration, be briefly described herein.

The elevator or table loading devices, of which there are two, spacedfrom each other, are simultaneously reciprocable on the side rods 49 andare timed to operate with the conveyor just described and the pusher 4.It is to be understood, however, that any other suitable means may beemployed, or that they may be eliminated and the conveyor so arranged todischarge the loaves of bread di- 7.

rectly ontothe feed table 5 of the bread slicing machine. 7

- Briefly stated, each elevator device comprises a reciprocable carriage51 slidably mounted on the side rods 49 and being actuated by a rod 52which is moved in a vertical direction by a pivoted bar 53, the bar 53be-' ing actuated by a cam 54 having engagement with an extendingportion 55 of oneof the pusher levers 2. The carriage 51 supports a sideplate 56 which has a bread support 57 pivoted thereto. The breadsupports are so arranged -that when the carriages 51' are in theiruppermost positions, they are held in aborizontal position to receive aloaf .of bread from the conveyor and support the loaf at its ends, andthat when thecarriages approach their lowermostpositions, they aretripped to swing downwardly onto the feed table 5 of the slicingmachine.

From the drawings and the foregoing description of the presentinvention, it is ap- The loaf of bread,'if it is placed too far to oneside or the other of the belt 13, comes in contact with the nearestguide member 40 and is forced to apposition centrally of the conveyor.

As the bread reaches the forward end of the conveyor it is carriedforwardly and falls by gravity upon the elevatorasupp'ort through thecutting blades 6.

At approximately the instant the pusher 4 reaches its rearmost position,the carriages 51 move downwardly to a point near the table 5, and thesupports 57 are tripped and the loaf of bread is deposited onto the feedtable 5 in the correct slicing position adjacent the cutting blades 6.,As the pusher moves forward to feed the bread to the blades 6, thecarriages move upwardly and the'bread supports 57 are again moved tohorizontal'bread receiving position. As the pusher moves forwardly,theratchet mechanism through the pawl 23 engages another cleat 22 and movesthe conveyor belt 13 to discharge another loaf' of bread onto the tableloading devices,

.; and the cycle of operation is then completed.

Referring to Figs. 10, 11 and 12 which relate to a modified form ofconveyor and actuating mechanism and to the type shown in my copendingapplication Serial No. 395,218 filed September 26, 1929, the conveyorbelt comprises a pair of spaced chains 58 having cross bars 59 forengaging thebread, the upper side'of the conveyorbeing movable over asmooth apron (not shown).

As previously described, a drive bar 60 is supported on the side railconnectors 61, and

is guided between guide bars 62 secured to the I connectors 61. In thisconstruction the drive bar has a cross bar 63 secured to the lower sidethereof to engage the lower sides of the guide bars 62, which crossbar68 is provided with pawls 64 secured to its outer ends. The pawls 64 areformed with vertical faces 65 which engage the conveyor cross cleats orslats 59 at their ends to give a more positive drive therefor. The pawls64 are also formed with inclined faces 66 extending downwardly from theupper portions of the vertical faces 65 so that the conveyor crosscleats59 can easily slide thereover.

The means for operating the drive bar 60 and returning the same is,however, the same 1 as previously described.

In Figs. 13 and 14 a modified means of ad justment is provided for theconveyor so that the bread being sliced can be presented either with itsside face or top face to the cutting blades. I

In this construction the forward ends of the conveyor side rails 70 areformed with vertical slots 71 through which bolts 72 extend to securethe same to the side frames 73 of the slicing machine. It can be seen inFig. 13, with the conveyor in its lowest position,

that the bed of the conveyor is substantially horizontal with breadsupporting plates 74 of o the table loading'devices and the bread willbe discharged on its bottom face onto the bread supporting plates 74. r

It has een found that certain types or forms of loaves of bread, such asthose having a creased top, will crush when being sliced because of thecrease in the top of the loaf. In the present invention, this disadvantae is obviated by moving the conveyor upward y to the position shown inFig. 14 so that the bed of the conveyor is positioned somewhat issynchronized with the table loading device 7 and feeder thereof.

It is obvious that in the present invention the bread is untouched fromthe time it is fed to the conveyor until it is completely sliced.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the particular form of breadslicing machine shown and described and the particular method set forth,are'presented for purposes of explanation and illustration andthatvariou's'modifications may be made from said invention without departingfrom the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a bread slicing machine, a feeding conveyor comprising an endlessintermittently movable member, a plurality of transverse bread engagingcleats on said member, a longitudinally reciprocable drive barpositioned below the lower side of said member,

v means on said drive bar for progressively engaging said cleats tointermittently move said endless member, and means for reciprocatingsaid drive barf v 2. In a bread slicing machine having a reciprocablepusher, a conveyor for progressively feeding loaves'of bread to saidmachine comprising an endless intermittently movable apron, a pluralityof regularly spaced transverse cleats secured to said apron," alongitudinally reciprocable drive bar, a pawl on said drive bar adaptedto progressively engage said I cleats, means actuated by said pusher formoving said drive bear rearwardly to thereby, move said apron, and meansfor moving said drive bar forwardly whereby said pawl may engage thenext adjacent cleat.

3. In a bread slicing machine having a reciprocable pusher for feedingloaves of bread to be sliced, an endless conveyor for progressivelyfeeding loaves of bread to said machine, bread engaging cleats carriedby said conveyor, a longitudinally reciprocable drive movement of saidpusher to actuate said conveyor, and means for returning said drive barto a forward position during rearward movement of said pusher.

4. In a bread slicing machine havin a reciprocable pusher for feedingloaves 0 bread to be sliced, an endless conveyor for progressivelyfeeding loaves of bread to said machine,

bread engagln cleats carried by said conveyor, a longitudinallyreciprocable drive bar, a pawl on said drive bar adapted toprogressively engage said cleats to intermittently actuate saidconveyor, a roller member, and a flexible member connected with saiddrive .bar passing over said roller member and connected with saidpusher, whereby forward feeding movement of said pusher through saidflexible member moves said drive bar rearwardly to actuate saidconveyor,

5. In a bread slicing niachine having a reciprocablepusher forfeedingloaves to be sliced, a conveyor mechanism for progressivelydelivering loaves of bread to said pusher, said conveyor mechanismcomprising an endless apron, bread engaging cleats secured to saidapron, a longitudinally reci rocable drive bar, means on said barengagea le with a said cleat to move said conveyor a predetermineddistance, a roller member, a flexible member connected with said drivebar, pass ing over said roller and connected with said pusher, wherebyforward feeding movement of said pusher movessaid drive bar rearwardlyto actuate said conveyor, and spring means for returning said drive barto a forward position during rearward movement of said pusher.

6. In a bread slicing machine having a. reciprocable pusher for feedingloaves of bread to be sliced, a mechanism for progressively deliveringloaves of bread to said pusher, said mechanism comprising an endlessconveyor having transverse loaf engaging members thereon, alongitudinally reciprocable drive member, a bar secured to and extendingtransversely of said drive member, pawls on the ends of said bar forintermittently'engaging [and moving saidconveyor a redetermineddistance, means connecting said drive mem- 59 ber and said pusherwhereby movement of said pusher willc'ause said drive member to movesaid conveyor, andmeans for returning 7 said drive member after movementthereof by said pusher. 1

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

OTTO F. ROHWEDDER.

